The shootings were carried out as a result of the so-called Wehrmacht Commissar Order, whereby state and party functionaries, political commissars, and Jews were not to be treated as prisoners of war but were to be shot at the front, in breach of international law. The Gestapo continued to weed out such individuals in the prisoner of war camps. Suspects were brought to the nearest concentration camp to be killed.
To ensure that this process went smoothly, the SS used the former stables of their riding hall to install an execution facility of their own design. While pretending to perform a medical examination, members of the SS would kill the captive from behind with a shot to the back of the neck. The corpse was then transported in a galvanized container to the crematorium for incineration. These containers—together with a reconstruction of the shooting facility—can be viewed today.
After halting these murders, the SS dismantled the facility. The building was probably demolished during the period when the area was used as a Soviet special camp.
